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Monday, March 9, 2015

Review: Better Than Perfect by Simone Elkeles

Summary:

A fresh and fun repackage of Wild Cards, Better Than Perfect launches a romantic new series from NY Times bestselling author Simone Elkeles.

After
getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no
choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is
deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she
plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s
counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he
needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn
Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without
a backward glance. So when her older sister comes home after abandoning
her ten years earlier, with her hot new stepson in tow, Ashtyn wants
nothing to do with either of them. Then she comes up with a plan that
would finally give her the chance to leave, but it requires trusting
Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she
willing to put her heart on the line to try and get the future she
wants?

I
just finished this one yesterday and have thought long and hard about
how I wanted to write this review with so many thoughts running through
my head. I love Simone Elkeles. I fell in love with her writing with
Perfect Chemistry, which was sent to me to review - and I thought I
would hate. After that, I devoured the rest of the Perfect Chemistry
books, and also the two Paradise books. So it is easy to say that I
went into this book with high expectations, and they were somewhat let
down.

Now, when I go into one of Elkeles books, I expect there to
be fluffy not-quite-real romance in them. They are in all her books,
and let me tell you, I do enjoy that. I love the fluffy-ness of them.
But at the same time, there is always a bit of the book that is so
serious that it makes the stories more than just a fluffy romance novel.
I was disappointed with the serious aspect of this book.

I felt
like Elkeles could have gone more into Ashtyn and Derek's issues. They
both have problems. I felt like there needed to me more focus on
Derek's relationship with his stepmother. In the beginning, he hates
her, and then suddenly at the end, he doesn't mind her - but nothing
throughout the story led me to believe that anything in their
relationship had changed. This is what really bugged me about the book.
There needed to be less focus on Derek and Ashtyn's romance, and a
little more on how these family issues are magically being solved.

Derek
and Ashtyn - most of the time - were easy to like. However, as with
any Elkeles book, there are times when you just want to throw the book
at the wall for the decisions the characters are making. However, there
were moments where I just didn't feel like I was connecting with them.

Overall,
I would still recommend this book to others. It still has a good story
in it, even if it was more romance than I preferred. However, if you
want to read Elkeles at her best, go for the Perfect Chemistry books or
the Paradise books.

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I'm currently 23 years old. I am in the last semester of my college degree, and will graduate on December 10, 2016 with a Bachelor in Science degree in Secondary Education with a double major in Mathematics and History. Upon graduation, I will be able to teach 6-12 grade mathematics in Michigan, and will (hopefully) have a teaching job come the 2017-2018 school year.
I am engaged to a wonderful man who supports me becoming a teacher - and the time that I have to commit to my job for me to feel successful. If I am not working on stuff for school, then I am talking about the stuff that I want to work on for school! We will be getting married on May 20, 2017.
Outside of teaching, I enjoy reading, crocheting, and knitting. I am also known to binge watch a ton of shows on Netflix.